Building block



' 1930. F. SAYERS 1,785,499

BUILDING BLOCK Filed' April 7, 192a :s Sheets-Sheet i INVENTOR.

. l 19 BY 2 'H A TT E? F. SAYERS BUILDING BLOCK Dec. 16, 1930.

- Filed April v, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED ST TES PATENT OF-m1;

rm same, or YONKERS, new YORK BUILDING BLOCK Application filed April I, 1928. Serial No. 268,105.

This invention relates to structural building blocks.

Special objects of the invention are to" rovide an interlocking block construction aving provision for 0th horizontal and ver-' tical'ventilation in the wall, with com letely sealed joints, both at the inside and t e outside surfaces of the wall, a weatherproof finish at the outer surface and a nailing vfinish at the inside of the wall; in which the are attained by certain novel features of construction, combinations and relations of parts, as disclosed in the following specification and broadly covered in the claims.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, illustrate'certain practical commercial-embodiments of the in vention, but it is to be understood that the structure may be'varied in some respects without departure from the true spirit an real scope of the invention. a

Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of a portion-0f a wall constructed of the building blocks.

Figure 2. is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the blocks. 1

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the blocks as slightly modified.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the same.

Figure 5 is an inside view of a wall constructed of the blocks and showing the manner of setting the beams therein.

Figure 6 is a plan'view as taken-on the plane ofline 66 of Figure 5, showing particularly the beam spacing blocks.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the beam spacing blocks.

The general structure of the block will be clear from Figure 1,- which shows it as made up of inside and outside wall slabs 8, .9, connected at top and bottom by s'ubstantiall horlzontal webs 10, 11, the top web being ofi set above the upper edges of the side slabs or panels to provide a longitudinal rib 12, the bottom web being inset to provide a longitudinal channel 13 in the bottom of the block and both being ofl'set longitudinally with respect to the side slabs to provlde at one end of the block, the forwardly projecting tongue 14 and at the rear end of the block,'the vertical channel 15. This construction, it will be apparent, affords both vertical and horizontal interlock in the wall. The space 16 between the webs provides a ventilating channel extending longitudinally of the block and the opening 17 inthe upper web of the block provides'a vertical ventilating channel and at the same time a hand-hold aiding in the shifting of the block, to the right in Figure 1, to carry the tongue on the forward end of it, into the vertical grooveway in the rear of the preceding block of'the course.

An important feature of the invention is the gaging" of the blocks as they are set'i-n the wall. This is accomplished in the illustration by providing at opposite sides of the grooveway 13in the bottom of the block, the two series of transversely extending spacing or gaging ribs 18 and at opposite sides of the grooveway 15 in the end of the block, two similar transversely extending spacing or gaging ribs 19. These ribs space the bodies of-the blocks a distance equivalent to the proper thickness of mortar at such joints, and in addition, provide horizontal air spaces 20 in the middle of the wall between adjoining courses (Figure 1) and vertical air spaces 21 between the ends of adjoining blocks in a course. These ribs may be half round to give them strength and they arespaced closely enough to effect their purpose.

Another especially important feature aiding in the setting of the blocks without the usual levellin devices is the provision of mortar gages automatically insuring the proper amount of mortar at the horizontal and vertical joints. Referring to Figure 1 the rib 12 on top of the block is proportioned to stand up a distance above the side slabs forms a 1gage for a triangular wedge 27 of mortar, e correct size toclose the end joints betweenblocks.

In usin the mortar gages described, the blocks be ore being placed in the wall may be arranged on end, making it easy to fill in the wedges of mortar 27 on the tongue When the mortar 1s ends of the blocks. properly spread, these wedges will hold in lace when the block is turned down in the orizontal position shown in Figure 1, so that after the horizontal wedges 24 are spread on the edges of the finished course, the block can be set by simply shifting it endwise solidly against the preceding block of the course and then tapping it down into solidly seated engagement on the blocks of the previously laid course, the gaged mortar spreading in such operations to enable the blocks coming solidly together both at the ends and at the horizontal joints, the end and vertical gage ribs 18, 19 giving the.

blocks an exact spacing and the mortar gages assuring the proper amount of mortar to ef-' fect such joints.

To completely seal the joints at the inside and the outside of the wall, the side panels of the blocks are shown as having semi-circular grooves 28, 29, extending along the horizontal and vertical edges of the same, providing full round keys 30 in the mortar when the blocks are set up in the wall.

The outside panel 9 of the block is preferably waterproofed as indicated more. particularly at 31 in Figure 4, and the inside panel 8 is preferably of a more or less porous or nailable texture, as indicated at 32 in the same view. In this way a fully weatherproof wall is provided, and the nailable character at the side of the wall efi'ects great savings for furring, lathing and scratch coat plaster. To reinforce the block mid-length, there may be formed in the longitudinal air passage, a rib or flange shown at 33 in Figure 2. extending completely about said passage in the nature of an annular reinforcement.

If found desirable, the horizontal air channels may be increased in size by providing longitudinal grooves 34in the tops of the blocks, as shown particularly in Figures 3 and 4. Similarl the end tongues and grooves of the b ocks may be grooved, as

indicated at 35 and 36 in Figure 3, to increase the cross section of the vertical air passages.

The blocks may be conveniently molded with the more compact exterior water-proof side slab 31 at the bottom and for this reason the end space 16 in the block is shown in Figures 3, 4 and 7 as wider toward the outside, this shape permitting tamping of the material in the mold, which material, it will be seen, will be wedged by the tamping action solidly about the core of the mold. This tapered. cross section also gives greater stren h to the innerwall.

In igures 5, 6 and 7, the blocks for one course are shown modified to receive and form spacers for the beams. These beams are indicated at 37 and are shown as angled at their ends in the usual. way at 38 so as to take a solid footing on the blocks of the course 39. To accommodate these angled ends ofthe beams, the blocks 40 of the superimposed course are shown as having in the forward or tongue end of the same, a relatively wide undercut 41 and in the grooveway of the same, a narrower undercut 42, these undercuts extending from the rib 12 at the top downwardly and inwardly on an angle 43 appropriate to the. angled end of the beam and the two of them approximating in width the width of the beams so as they are placed together in the end to end relation shown in Figure 6, the beam ends can be seated therebetween and the beams thus be automatically spaced and secured in proper relation. Except for these inwardly angled beam receiving recesses, the blocks may be otherwise the same as previously described.

I claim:

1. A building block having tongue and groove elements for interlocking in a' wall construction, and gauge elements for spacing the interlocked blocks in predetermined relation in the wall, said block having further mortar gauges for measuring predetermined quantities of mortar requisite for the spacing predetermined by said auges.

2. A building block avingtongue -and grooye elements about the four sides of the same, and auge ribs in the groove elements of the bloc to space the blocks inpredeter- 'mined relation in a wall construction. in construction by ehmmatmg the necessity 3. A building block having tongueand groove elements about the four sides of the same, and'gauge ribs in the groove elements of the block to space the blocks in predetermined relation-in a wall construction, and said block haying mortar gauges at the tongue elements of the block. 4

4. A building block having side panels with mortar receiving grooves in the edges of the same, an upstanding tongue at. the top, and a projecting tongue at one end of the block, said block having a tongue receiving groove in the opposite end, and a tongue receiving groove in the bottom of the same, the corner edges of the blocks forming with the adjacent corner edges of the side panel gauges for holding redetermined quantities of mortar, and pro ections in the tongue receiving grooves of the block for spacing the blocks in predetermined relation in a wall at the right distance to hold the predetermined quantities of mortar measured by the mortar gauges aforesaid.

5. Building blocks having interlocking tongue and groove elements, and provided with air channels therethrough, and means in the form of projections in the grooves for spacing the blocks in a wall with horizontal and vertical air channels between adjoining blocks. 7

6. A hollow building block having a longitudinal passage extending completely therethrough and having intermediate the ends of said block an annular rib extending inwardly into said longitudinal passage and forming an annular reinforcement about said passage for strengthening the intermediate hollow portion of the block between the ends of the same.

In testimony whereof I aflix m sinature FRED S A ERS. 

